Sep 23 - GBGA Lawsuit Argues For Association's Passporting Proposal
Opening their case today in London’s High Court, the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association is challenging the UK Government’s change to their New Licensing Regime, that has come about as a result of a number of amendments to the Gambling Act 2005.
The UK’s new regime will see overseas operators, including all those in Gibraltar, whose services are used in Britain, having to apply for a new license, via the Gambling Commission. Operators will also have to submit regulatory returns and notifications to the GC.
Representing the GBGA, Dinah Rose QC, will present the GBGA’s passporting proposal, which would see the GC award licenses on the basis that operators in jurisdictions regulated locally, to the satisfaction of the Commission, ‘would be permitted to function here and other jurisdictions would have direct regulation from the Commission.’ The Association claims that the Secretary of State has misunderstood the proposed passporting regime.
Ultimately, the case argues that the regime’s ‘underlying purpose is as a disincentive to companies to stay offshore.’ It will also be suggested that the Gambling Commission, whose regime will include a new tax that will target the jurisdiction consumers are playing from and not the base of the operators, has not demonstrated how the current regulatory regime has failed.
The case is set to continue tomorrow.
